Media: 'Representative office' for the 'Russian community of the Crimea' opened in Luhansk
In the separatist-held Luhansk, representative offices for the "Russian Community of the Crimea" and the “Russia – Donbas Committee” were opened. They are expected to be able to provide information on the registration of documents required by Russia, as well as Crimean information, in particular, about tourist routes to the annexed peninsula, as reported by RIA Novosti news agency.
According to the agency, the main goal of the representative offices will be the development of economic ties between the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and the annexed Crimea, as well as legal assistance to residents of the part of the Luhansk region that is not under the control of the Ukrainian government.
The opening of the offices in Luhansk was attended by the Russian Senator from the annexed Crimea, the chairman of the Russian Community of the Crimea, Sergey Tsekov.
According to him, the idea of opening representative offices was born in January 2017, when celebrations took place in the Crimea on the anniversary of the Pereyaslav Council. "We started cooperative efforts since that time and as it turned out, we managed to do a lot in nearly nine months - we created the Russia – Donbas Integration Committee, and not just on paper, every month there are concrete tasks," Russian news agency TASS cited Tsekov as saying.
In March, the creation of the Russia-Donbas Integration Committee was announced at the Livadia Palace in the annexed Crimea.
The internationally recognized Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution. The Kremlin has faced international condemnation for its annexation of the Peninsula, leading many western countries to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In the United Nations, only Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria recognize Crimea as a legitimate federal subject of Russia.